Johannesburg: Five South African officials, including police and military commanders, have been suspended after a chartered plane carrying about 200 guests from India to a lavish family wedding was allowed to land at a South African air force base, the government said on Friday. The scandal, in which the passengers allegedly bypassed customs procedures on their way to a gaudy entertainment complex, has angered many South Africans who see the episode as a case of cronyism linking big business and the highest levels of government in a country where corruption is a growing problem.
The government sought to stem public outrage over the incident, launching an investigation into how the Airbus A330 was given permission to land Tuesday at the Waterkloof Air Force Base and ordering it to fly on Thursday to a civilian international airport in Johannesburg. The wedding festivities wrapped up on Friday. The guests attended the wedding of Vega Gupta, whose Indian immigrant family has powerful business interests in South Africa, and groom Aakash Jahajgarhia in an extravaganza spanning several days at Sun City, a leisure center northwest of Johannesburg. Some South African current and former officials also attended.
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said the suspended officials included two brigadier generals at the air force base and the head of state protocol, Bruce Koloane. He said the government is "gravely concerned at this violation of the security protocol and total disregard of established practice for clearing the landing of aircraft in a military facility that
10:38 AM, May 04, 2013
In India, over 30 per cent are said to be below poverty line and millions have no access to basic health care or education. But politicians are spending crores on weddings even giving gifts of helicopters. The Income Tax department search the premises of Congress minister Bhaskar Jadhav in Maharashtra after he spent crores on extravagent wedding of his two children at a time when Maharashtra is battling with severe ...
11:55 PM, Feb 20, 2013
Income-Tax department on Monday night conducted raids at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Bhaskar Jadhav's residence in Chiplun, Maharashtra. The raids were conducted after Jadhav received flak from his party chief Sharad Pawar. ...
11:23 AM, Feb 19, 2013
Hugh Grant says he has become a father for the second time. The 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' star used his Twitter account to announce Saturday: "Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree." ...
04:54 PM, Feb 17, 2013
Filmmaker Mohit Suri will tie the knot with his actress girlfriend Udita Goswami here Tuesday evening in a traditional Punjabi wedding at the Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple. ...
03:14 PM, Jan 29, 2013
Notorious for pronouncing bizarre verdicts on social issues, Haryana's community councils, the khaps, on Sunday asked the Arya Samaj not to solemnise at its temples weddings between couples from the same gotra (lineage) and village. ...
01:17 PM, Jan 21, 2013
After the khaps in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim community panchayat in Rajasthan on Thursday banned girls from using cell-phones and also from dancing and singing at weddings, ostensibly in an effort to prevent incidents like Delhi gang-rape. ...
01:48 PM, Jan 10, 2013
Movie starts well and promises much till the interval but predictable towards the ends, overall an average flick. ...
06:03 PM, Dec 02, 2012
Rohtak (Haryana): Haryana's Khap panchayats, who have already received flak over their moral policing-blended diktats, on Sunday asked the state government to ban marriage functions at night as it would lessen cases of drunken driving by keeping off youths from alcohol. A resolution to this effect was passed during an assembly of over 200 representatives from around 50 Khaps of the state in Rohtak, which found wedding ceremonies in the...
07:45 PM, Oct 28, 2012
Los Angeles: Actor-singer Justin Timberlake and fiance Jessica Biel tied the know in an intimate ceremony in Italy. The couple has been together for five years, and has enjoyed a ten month engagement, reported People magazine. "It's great to be married, the ceremony was beautiful and it was so special to be surrounded by our family and friends," the couple said in a statement. They enjoyed three days of celebrations,...
02:27 PM, Oct 20, 2012
Los Angeles: Friends star Jennifer Aniston's engagement caused quite a stir among fans and the actress says she herself had no idea that fiance Justin Theroux was going to pop the question. The 43-year-old, who was earlier married to actor Brad Pitt, got engaged in August, reported People magazine. "I was impressed. I had no idea what I wanted. He just knows what I like. Theroux worked with the girls...
01:51 PM, Oct 20, 2012
New Delhi: The five-day wedding celebrations of actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor culminated in a grand Mughal themed reception here with political and Bollywood bigwigs in attendance. Prime Minister's wife Gursharan Kaur, Union ministers Farooq Abdullah, Rajiv Shukla and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sitaram Yechury of CPI-M, BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, lyricist Prasoon Joshi and actress Nandita Das...
10:38 AM, Oct 19, 2012
The release date of '101 weddings' will be delayed by a week. The movie, which was originally scheduled to be on theaters this week, will get late as the post production works are not over. The multistarrer featuring Jayasuriya, Kunchakko Boban and Biju Menon in the lead will be a humorous entertainer. As of now the movie will get to the theatres by October 26. Meanwhile, this weekend will have...
09:16 PM, Oct 17, 2012
Mumbai: Several Bollywood celebrities turned up for a post wedding party of star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor here this evening to wish the couple. The party at Taj Mahal hotel in south Mumbai followed a registered marriage of the couple at Saif's residence this afternoon. Family members from Kareena's side including her father Randhir Kapoor, mother Babita, sister Karisma Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor with wife Neetu Singh and...
10:07 AM, Oct 17, 2012
New Delhi: Bollywoods most eligible couple finally sealed their relationship forever by signing on the dotted lines. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, who have been dating each other for the past five years, finally entered the wedlock with a registered marriage. Kareena, 32, dressed in a Punjabi traditional suit and Saif, 42, dressed in grey kurta married in the presence of family members and close friends. While most of...
05:34 PM, Oct 16, 2012
Mumbai: As Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor prepare to tie the knot Tuesday, animal activist group PETA is set to present the couple a special gift - a flock of vegan chocolate chickens. "Kareena Kapoor is a vegetarian and refused to eat eggs while filming 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu'," Poorva Joshipura, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India chief executive officer, said in a statement. "What better...
01:45 PM, Oct 16, 2012
New Delhi: With Bollywoods much-awaited wedding just around the corner, the glitz and glamour quotient seems to be on a high. While Saif and Kareena have remained silent on their wedding preparations all this while, the nation seems to be gripped by their wedding fever. And, with Saif and Kareena tying the knot today, we bring to you some of the unknown facts about the highly publicized marriage. 1. Unlike...
11:27 AM, Oct 16, 2012
London: Actress Jennifer Aniston has reportedly invited her ex-husband Brad Pitt's mother Jane to her wedding. Aniston and Pitt divorced in 2005 after almost five years of marriage, but the actress remained close to her former mother-in-law and wants her to be present when she ties the knot with Justin Theroux. "Jennifer wants Jane to be there. She's closer to her than she is to her own mother Nancy and...
11:03 AM, Oct 16, 2012
